Uplink resource allocation to control intercell interference in a wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention exploit the reciprocity of radio channels in TDD, and longer-term correlation between average uplink and downlink path losses in FDD wireless communication systems to enable distributed schedulers in an enhanced uplink system to allocate uplink transmission resources while preemptively managing intercell interference levels. Each cell&#39;s base station transmits a downlink reference signal at a known transmission power level. A mobile station monitors the received signal strength of the downlink reference signals from multiple base stations. The transmitted and received signal strength levels can be used by the mobile station to estimate the amount of intercell interference that the mobile station&#39;s uplink transmissions cause, and the mobile station&#39;s uplink transmission parameters are adjusted accordingly. In further embodiments, the received reference signal power levels, or values derived therefrom, are transmitted by the mobile station to its serving base station, where a scheduling algorithm uses the information to adjust one or more transmission parameters relating to a grant of uplink transmission resources to the UE, thereby controlling the intercell interference generated by the mobile station&#39;s uplink transmissions.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to an interference control apparatus and methodfor uplink access in a wireless communication system. The invention isapplicable to, but not limited to, a communication resource access,particularly for an enhanced uplink of packet-based data employed in aUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) Wideband-CDMA system, as usedin the Universal Mobile Telecommunication Standard (UMTS).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Wireless communication systems, for example cellular telephony orprivate mobile radio communication systems, typically provide for radiotelecommunication links to be arranged between a plurality of basetransceiver stations (BTSs) and a plurality of subscriber units, oftentermed mobile stations (MSs).

Wireless communication systems are distinguished over fixedcommunication systems, such as the public switched telephone network(PSTN), principally in that mobile stations move among BTS coverageareas, and in doing so encounter varying radio propagation environments.

In a wireless communication system, each BTS has associated with it aparticular geographical coverage area (or cell). The coverage area isdefined by a particular range where the BTS can maintain acceptablecommunications with MSs operating within its serving cell. Coverageareas for a plurality of BTSs can be aggregated for an extensivecoverage area. An embodiment of the present invention is described withreference to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) definingportions of the Universal Mobile Telecommunication Standard (UMTS),including the time division duplex (TD-CDMA) mode of operation. 3GPPstandards and technical release relating to the present inventioninclude 3GPP TR 25.211, TR 25.212, TR 25.213, TR 25.214, TR 25.215, TR25.808, TR 25.221, TR 25.222, TR 25.223, TR 25.224, TR 25.225, TS25.309, TR 25.804, TS 21.101, and TR 21.905 hereby incorporated withinthis application, in their entireties by reference. 3GPP documents canbe obtained from 3GPP Support Office, 650 Route des Lucioles, SophiaAntipolis, Valbonne, FRANCE, or on the Internet at www.3gpp.org.

In UMTS terminology, a BTS is referred to as a Node B, and subscriberequipment (or mobile stations) are referred to as user equipment (UEs).With the rapid development of services provided to users in the wirelesscommunication arena, UEs can encompass many forms of communicationdevices, from cellular phones or radios, through personal dataaccessories (PDAs) and MP-3 players to wireless video units and wirelessinternet units.

In UMTS terminology, the communication link from the Node B to a UE isreferred to as the downlink channel. Conversely, the communication linkfrom a UE to the Node B is referred to as the uplink channel.

In such wireless communication systems, methods for simultaneously usingavailable communication resources exist where such communicationresources are shared by a number of users (mobile stations). Thesemethods are sometimes termed multiple access techniques. Typically, somecommunication resources (say communications channels, time-slots, codesequences, etc) are used for carrying traffic while other channels areused for transferring control information, such as call paging, betweenthe Node Bs and the UEs.

It is worth noting that transport channels exist between the physicallayer and the medium access control (MAC) in the system hierarchy.Transport channels can define how data is transferred over the radiointerface. Logical channels exist between MAC and the radio link control(RLC)/radio resource control (RRC)layers. Logical channels define whatis transported. Physical channels define what is actually sent over theradio interface, i.e. between layer 1 entities in a UE and a Node B.

A number of multiple access techniques exist, whereby a finitecommunication resource is divided according to attributes such as: (i)frequency division multiple access (FDMA) in which one of a plurality ofchannels at different frequencies is assigned to a particular mobilestation for use during the duration of a call; (ii) time divisionmultiple access (TDMA) whereby each communication resource, say afrequency channel used in the communication system, is shared amongusers by dividing the resource into a number of distinct time periods(time-slots, frames, etc.); and (iii) code division multiple access(CDMA) whereby communication is performed by using all of the respectivefrequencies, at all of the time periods, and the resource is shared byallocating each communication a particular code, to differentiatedesired signals from undesired signals.

Within such multiple access techniques, different duplex (two-waycommunication) paths are arranged. Such paths can be arranged in afrequency division duplex (FDD) configuration, whereby a frequency isdedicated for uplink communication and a second frequency is dedicatedfor downlink communication. Alternatively, the paths can be arranged ina time division duplex (TDD) configuration, whereby a first time periodis dedicated for uplink communication and a second time period isdedicated for downlink communication on an alternating basis.

Present day communication systems, both wireless and wire-line, have arequirement to transfer data between communications units. Data, in thiscontext, includes signaling information and traffic such as data, video,and audio communication. Such data transfer needs to be effectively andefficiently provided for, in order to optimize the use of limitedcommunication resources.

Recent focus in 3GPP has been on the introduction and development of an“enhanced uplink” feature to provide fast scheduling and allocation ofsystem resources for uplink packet-based data, and to serve as acompliment to HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access). Within HSDPA(downlink), a scheduling (or downlink resource allocation) entity isplaced in the Node-B network entity (previously scheduling was performedby a Radio network controller, RNC). The scheduler resides within a newMAC entity termed the MAC-hs.

For HSDPA, scheduling is generally distributed among Node-Bs anddownlink soft handover (macro-diversity) is not supported. That is tosay that a scheduler exists in each cell which is largely, or whollyunaware of scheduling decisions made in other cells. Each scheduleroperates independently. Feedback is provided to the scheduler from theUE in the form of Channel Quality Information (CQI). This informationenables the scheduler to accommodate each users particular C/(N+I) (i.e.carrier to noise plus interference power ratio) situation. If schedulersin other cells are generating interference to a UE, this is reflected inthe CQI report to the UE's serving cell scheduler, and link parametersmay be adjusted in response by the scheduler to maintain an acceptablequality or reliability of radio communication between the base stationand the UE. Examples of parameters which may be adjusted in accordanceto the UE CQI feedback include: (i) the data rate; (ii) the transmitpower; (iii) the modulation format (QPSK/16-QAM); and (iv) the degree ofFEC coding applied

An enhanced uplink feature was first implemented for the FDD 3GPPvariant. In this case, a scheduler is placed in the Node-B (inside aso-called MAC-e function). As a result of the scheduling function beinglocated in the Node-B, scheduling is largely decentralized. However,because uplink signals from a UE may significantly interfere with theoperation of other cells, some degree of co-ordination is requiredbetween schedulers of different cells.

Soft handover is also supported for uplink in FDD, and this too requiressome control or feedback to the UE from all base stations activelyreceiving its transmissions. This can similarly be thought of as a formof scheduler coordination between cells.

In reference to FIG. 1 a, coordination between cell schedulers has beenprovided for the FDD enhanced uplink by means of non-serving cells (i.e.cells 003 and 004 in the “active set” but which are not the primarycontrolling cell 002) providing feedback to the UE 001. The “active set”is defined as the set of cells actively receiving the uplinktransmission from the UE 101. Due to the fact that in FDD WCDMA, uplinksignals from each user interfere with those of other users, thetransmission from UE 101 causes some degree of interference in cells 003and 004. There is no explicit direct, co-ordination between Node-B's ofthe active set (002, 003, and 004)—the coordination is effected via thecontrol feedback to the UE.

Control of the UE transmission power and data rate takes the form ofgrant commands sent from multiple cells to the same UE. The UE receivesan “absolute” grant from the serving cell, and may also receive“relative” grants from neighboring cells in the active set. The absolutegrant channel (E-AGCH) 007 is used by the serving cell scheduler toconvey information to the UE about which resources it may use. Uplinkresources are generally thought of in FDD WCDMA as “Rise-over-Thermal”(RoT) resources wherein an allowable received-interference levelthreshold is set for the base station (relative to thermal noise in thereceiver) and each user is effectively granted a fraction of thisallowable received interference power. As the allowable RoT set-point isincreased, so the interference level at the base station increases andthe harder it becomes for a UEs signal to be detected. Thus, theconsequence of increasing the RoT is that the coverage area of the cellis reduced. The RoT set-point must therefore be configured correctly fora given deployment to ensure the desired system coverage is met.

If a user is located close to a cell boundary, his uplink transmissionsmay contribute significantly to the received interference levelsobserved in a neighbor cell and may cause an allowable interferencetarget in that cell to be exceeded. This can reduce the coverage anddegrade the radio communication in that neighbor cell. This is anundesirable scenario, since decisions made by one scheduler in one cellmay have a detrimental (and sometimes catastrophic) impact on thecoverage or throughput in another cell. Some form of preemptive orreactive action is therefore required to accommodate for this scenario.

For the FDD WCDMA enhanced uplink, reactive (rather than preemptive)action is taken. The reactive action takes the form of the E-RGCHfeedback commands 005, 006 from the neighbor cells 004 and 003,respectively, which can be used by a particular scheduler to reduce theUE transmit power when the uplink signal is causing excessiveinterference in that schedulers' cell.

Thus, uplink interference coordination can be achieved betweenschedulers but without explicit need for direct inter-Node-Bcommunication. This is beneficial since a distributed schedulingarchitecture may be retained on the network side (where schedulers donot need to communicate with each other), and this enables theschedulers to be located in the Node-B which can facilitate fasterscheduling, lower latency and faster response to retransmissions. WhenHybrid ARQ is used (H-ARQ) this is also advantageous sinceretransmissions can be combined in a soft buffer in the Node-B,obviating the need to relay soft information over the Node-B/RNCinterface (Iub).

Uplink soft handover between cell sites is typically not supported forTDD. Nor is the UE currently required to decode information sent on adownlink from any cell other than the serving cell. Thus, the FDDsolution to control intercell interference levels throughout the systemusing E-AGCH from serving cells and E-RGCH from neighboring cells is notappropriate for TDD enhanced uplink. A requirement for the UE's tolisten to commands from multiple cells could be introduced, enabling thesame E-RGCH feedback scheme to be used. However, this wouldsignificantly increase the UE receiver complexity and for this reason,this is not an attractive solution. In reference to FIG. 1 b, UE 011 isin TDD communication 017 with its serving Node-B 012, however the UE 011uplink also causes interference to neighboring cells served by Node-B's013 and 014.

Other mechanisms for controlling uplink intercell interference musttherefore be sought. It is again advantageous to find solutions to thisproblem that can operate within a distributed scheduling architecture inwhich a scheduler exists for each cell, or for each Node-B, that mayoperate independently of schedulers for other cells. This is so that thebenefits of a distributed architecture can be retained. These advantagesinclude: (i) faster scheduling; (ii) lower transmission latency; (iii)faster response to retransmissions: (iv) absence of a need forinter-cell or inter-site communication interfaces; (v) reduction innetwork complexity; and (vi) favorable architecture for hybrid automaticrepeat requests, H-ARQ.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention exploit the reciprocity of radiochannels in TDD and FDD wireless communication systems to enabledistributed schedulers in an enhanced uplink system to preemptivelycontrol intercell interference levels. Each cell's base stationtransmits a downlink reference (or so-called “beacon” signal) Thetransmission power of the beacon signal (at the transmitter) is known tothe UE, because it is encoded on the beacon signal (and/or may be adefault value). A UE monitors the received signal strength (receivedsignal code power, “RSCP) of the downlink beacon signals from one ormore base stations (received at the UE). The transmitted and receivedbeacon signal power levels for the respective base stations (Node-Bs)are used by the UE to control the amount of inter-cell interference thatthe UE generates by its uplink transmissions. In further embodiments,the transmitted and received beacon signal power levels, or valuesderived therefrom, are transmitted by the UE to its serving Node-B (basestation), where a transmission parameter scheduling mechanism is used togrant an uplink transmission parameter grant to the UE, therebycontrolling the intercell interference generated by the UE's uplinktransmissions. There is no need for the UE to receive data content fromcontrolling signals from other (non-serving) cells, and as suchembodiments of the present invention advantageously suit thecharacteristics of the current 3GPP TDD architecture and avoid majorincreases in UE receiver complexity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 a illustrates a mobile station in communication with a servingcell and members of an active set in a FDD wireless communicationsystem.

FIG. 1 b illustrates a mobile station in communicating with a servingcell, and interfering with neighboring cells in a TDD wirelesscommunication system. Note: although soft handover is not supportedwithin the TDD standard (supporting signaling is not included), it isconceivable that in other or similar systems one may implement a Node-Band system which does “listen” for out-of-cell UE signals, to decodethese and forward them up to an RNC or other central point or networkentity for combining.

FIG. 2 a illustrates uplink conditions for a mobile station in favorableradio propagation conditions for minimum intercell interference (a “highgeometry” situation).

FIG. 2 b illustrates uplink conditions for a mobile station in difficultradio propagation conditions (a “low geometry” situation).

FIG. 3 a illustrates downlink conditions for a mobile station infavorable radio propagation conditions (a “high geometry” situation).

FIG. 3 b illustrates downlink conditions for a mobile station indifficult radio propagation conditions (a “low geometry” situation).

FIG. 4 a illustrates a prior art method for fair power scheduling.

FIG. 4 b illustrates an embodiment of the invention with geometric powerscheduling.

FIG. 5 illustrates communication between MAC-e layers of a UE and aNode-b according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates the operation of a scheduler according to anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 a illustrates a method of allocating uplink resource grants forUEs by a serving Node-B according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 b illustrates a method of allocating uplink resource grants forUEs by a serving Node-B according to another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a method to scale uplink resourcegrants.

FIG. 9 illustrates a system block diagram describing an embodiment ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as is commonly understood by one of ordinary skillin the art to which this invention belongs. All patents, applications,published applications and other publications referred to herein areincorporated by reference in their entirety. If a definition set forthin this section is contrary to or otherwise inconsistent with adefinition set forth in applications, published applications and otherpublications that are herein incorporated by reference, the definitionset forth in this section prevails over the definition that isincorporated herein by reference.

As used herein, “a” or “an” means “at least one” or “one or more.”

In reference to FIGS. 2 a and 2 b, a UE 201 is in communication with itsserving Node-B (base station) 202. The uplink signal also arrives atneighboring cell Node-Bs 203 and 204. There exists a signal path gainbetween each UE (denoted “i”) and each Node-B base station receiver(“j”) in the system. The path gain between UE “i” and Node-B basestation receiver “j” is denoted g_(ij) 207, 205, and 206 for Node-Bs204, 202, and 203, respectively. A UE close to his serving Node-B willtypically have high path gain (illustrated as bold arrows) to that cell,and is likely to have low path gain (illustrated as thin arrows) toother cells. For example path gain 205 in FIG. 2 a, is large and so isdenoted by a bold arrow.

For a given transmission from the i^(th) UE, the ratio of power receivedat his serving cell (J) to the sum of the power received at all othercells is given the term “geometry” (Φ):

$\begin{matrix}{\Phi_{i} = \frac{g_{i\; J}}{\sum\limits_{j \neq J}g_{i\; j}}} & \lbrack 1\rbrack\end{matrix}$

Users with high geometry generally interfere less with neighbor cellsthan UEs with low geometry. It would thus be beneficial if the schedulerhad knowledge of the geometry of each UE, since the amount of intercellinterference they cause could be predicted before the scheduling grantsare sent to the users with the result that the intercell interference ismanaged and controlled.

Users with high and low geometry are illustrated in FIGS. 2 a and 2 b,for high geometry and low geometry cases, respectively, where thethickness of the transmission path arrows represents the path gain (awider arrow representing higher path gain).

The geometry of the user can be calculated by the network given thereceived uplink signal powers at each of the base stations. However,this requires that the received signal power measurements for a given UEare collected at that UE's serving Node-B, requiring the establishmentof new communication links between the serving Node-B and the Node-B'sin neighboring cells (recall this is something we are trying to avoid).

Alternatively, the received power measurements for a given UE could becollected at some other central point (such as a Radio NetworkController, RNC) and then relayed back out to the UE's serving Node-B.Unfortunately, this involves transmission delays of the measurementinformation within the network, and could mean that the information is“old” before it can be used by the scheduler. It also adds signalingoverhead within the network.

An embodiment of the present invention exploits the channel reciprocityfor TDD to avoid the issues discussed above. For TDD, because thedownlink and uplink channels are reciprocal, geometry (or thecorresponding path gains g_(ij)) can be measured by the UE usingdownlink reference, or beacon, signals and can be signaled to theserving Node-B for use by a scheduling process. Such downlink beaconsignals already exist for 3GPP TDD WCDMA systems. They are transmittedat a fixed reference power (configured for each cell) once or twicewithin each radio frame. They are located in the same timeslot asprimary synchronization signals, which enable the UE to find thelocation of the beacon timeslot. Thus, it is possible for the UE tolocate in time, the beacon transmissions from various cells (includingthe serving cell) and to measure the received signal code power levels(RSCP) of those beacon transmissions including the serving cell.

The transmit reference power of the beacon signal is signaled within thebeacon transmission itself in each cell. Thus in reference to FIGS. 3 aand 3 b, the UE 201 can listen to the beacon transmissions from basestations (e.g. beacon transmissions 205, 206, and 207 from Node-Bs 202,203, and 204, respectively). Each beacon transmission contains areference sequence or pilot signal and measurement by the UE of thestrength of this part of the signal is sufficient to provide the desiredRSCP measurement. The information content carried by neighbor cellbeacon signals need not necessarily be decoded by the UE. The referencetransmit power levels (P_(j) ^(ref)) pertinent to each beacon signal aresignaled to the UE either within the information content of the servingcell beacon signal, or alternatively, the UE may decode the neighboringcell beacon signal information, itself. In either case, for each cell(j), the UE (i) is then able to calculate the path gain:

$\begin{matrix}{g_{i\; j} = \frac{{RSCP}_{j}}{P_{j}^{ref}}} & \lbrack 2\rbrack\end{matrix}$

By doing this for each cell, it is clear that the UE can calculate hisown geometry Φ_(i) in an embodiment via equation [1] and can report thisto the network for use by an uplink scheduling process.

In other embodiments, similar or related metrics (figures of merit) canbe derived, such as the ratio of the serving cell (J) path gain to thestrongest neighbor cell (K) path gain:

$\begin{matrix}{\Phi_{i}^{\prime} = \frac{g_{i\; J}}{g_{i\; K}}} & \lbrack 3\rbrack\end{matrix}$

In other embodiments, when the reference transmit power levels (P_(j)^(ref)) are equal, and the beacon signals from the multiple cells aretransmitted over a common period of time, the UE can make an approximateestimate to Φ_(i) of equation [1] by taking the ratio of the RSCPmeasured for the serving cell, to the residual non-serving cell power,“ISCP”. ISCP is the total intercell interference plus thermal noise(i.e. sum of non-serving cell received power) measured by the UE. Asmentioned, this approximation assumes that P_(j) ^(ref) is the same forall cells in the network and that only beacon signals are transmitted onthe beacon timeslot(s) such that ISCP is approximately equal to the sumof RSCP_(j) for all j≠J.

$\begin{matrix}{\Phi_{i}^{\prime\prime} = \frac{{RSCP}_{J}}{ISCP}} & \lbrack 4\rbrack\end{matrix}$

ISCP may be estimated in several known ways, two examples are hereindescribed. In the first example, a noise-free portion of the servingcell beacon signal is reconstructed and is subtracted from the compositereceived signal. The power of the remaining signal is then measured toprovide the required ISCP estimate. In the second example, the totalpower “T” of the composite signal (containing the beacon signals fromthe multiple cells) is measured, and the power of the serving cellsignal (RSCP_(J)) is separately measured. ISCP is then estimated asT-RSCP_(J) such that:

$\begin{matrix}{\Phi_{i}^{\prime\prime\prime} = \frac{{RSCP}_{J}}{\left( {T - {RSCP}_{J}} \right)}} & (5)\end{matrix}$

where ISCP is the total intercell interference plus thermal noise (i.e.sum of non-serving cell received power) measured by the UE. Note thatthis approximation assumes that P_(j) ^(ref) is the same for all cellsin the network and that only beacon signals are transmitted on thebeacon timeslot(s) such that ISCP is approximately equal to the sum ofRSCP_(j) for all j≠J.

In a further embodiment, a UE can report the individual RSCP_(j) valuesthat it received to the serving Node-B, and the serving Node-Bcalculates the geometry or other metric itself, to provide to thescheduling process. Calculating the geometry, or other metric, at theserving Node-B can offload computation from the UE, however at the costof transmitting more data from the UE to the serving Node-B.

In these cases, the geometry (or approximated version thereof)information is conveyed to the base station scheduler in the servingNode-B associated with each particular UE. The scheduler can thenpreemptively avoid excessive intercell interference by scheduling the UEsuch that its transmissions do not arrive in the neighbor cells withexcessive power. In this respect the geometry value of equation [3] isparticularly useful, since the maximum received signal level at anyneighbor cell (i.e. the strongest one) may be directly calculated if thetransmit power of the UE (or receive power in the serving cell) isknown. The received power level in all other cells can then be known tobe less than this value, and could be considered to somewhat negligible.

Scheduling of uplink resources to UEs according to their geometrynecessarily means that the transmission rate per timeslot is reduced forUEs with low geometry and is increased for users with high geometry.Advantageously, this can be shown to have further benefits in terms ofsystem capacity. Scheduled resources for uplink are generally thought ofas received C/(N+I) resources, or rise over thermal (RoT) resources.When users are scheduled an amount of uplink resources in proportion totheir geometry, the overall intercell interference generated for a giventotal amount of resources scheduled in each cell is reduced whencompared to the situation in which each user is scheduled an equalfraction of the assigned uplink resources.

In further embodiments, for either TDD or FDD systems, a UE canautonomously use a beacon signal RSCP measurement to control its ownuplink transmission characteristics, rather than waiting for commandsback from the serving Node-B scheduler. This can effect a very fastsecondary interference control which could advantageously be based uponmore recent path loss measurement information at the UE than that usedby the basestation scheduler when granting the transmission resources.The updated measurements could then be signaled to the basestationscheduler as described in previous embodiments. The basestationscheduler may then use these updated measurements on which to basefurther scheduling decisions. Embodiments of the present invention canalso be used for FDD wireless communication systems. Although uplink anddownlink transmission frequencies are different for FDD systems, ratherthan common as in TDD systems, a downlink transmission path gain canprovide a less precise, but usable longer-term estimate of an uplinktransmission path gain between a particular Node-B and UE.

The difference between fair and geometrically-proportional scheduling isshown pictorially in FIGS. 4 a and 4 b. In prior art FIG. 4 a, each useris assigned an equal fraction (406, 405, 404, and 403) of the totalallocated receive power for serving cell users. In the embodiment of theinvention as shown in FIG. 4 b, the receive power resources are sharedamong users according to their geometry (user 1 406 has the highestgeometry and user 4 403 has the lowest geometry). In FIGS. 4 a and 4 b401 and 402 represent background levels of thermal noise and intercellinterference, respectively.

When implementing geometrically-proportional scheduling, the schedulercan ensure that each user creates the same (or a similar) level ofintercell interference as each other user, regardless of the usersgeometry. This is in contrast to fair scheduling in which the degree ofintercell interference caused by each user is inversely proportional tothe user's geometry. As such, in the case of fair scheduling, the systemis often limited by only a few low-geometry users, and this penalizesthe high geometry users. By sharing out the intercell “cost” of eachuser more fairly amongst users (as in the geometrically-proportionalcase), the system is less compromised by these worst-case users, andsystem capacity can be increased.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a 3GPP TDD enhanced uplinksystem is considered in which each UE measures the downlink beacon RSCPfrom multiple neighboring cells (possibly using the primarysynchronization channels to locate the beacon transmissions). The UEsalso decode the system information contained on one or more of thebeacon signals, and retrieve the beacon reference transmit power foreach cell (P_(j) ^(ref)). Using this information, the UEs calculate thepath gain to the serving cell and to each neighbor cell (via equation[2]). They then calculate the geometry via equation [1], or a similarmetric based upon estimated path gains, and signal this information tothe MAC-e entity responsible for uplink scheduling at the serving cellNode-B. The geometry information is pertinent to the uplink even thoughit is measured on downlink, due to the reciprocity of the TDD radiochannel (the same frequency is used for uplink and downlinktransmissions). This geometry information can also be applied to FDDsystems, except that the uplink and downlink channels can be lesscorrelated and therefore averaged or filtered downlink received signalpower measurement or path gain would need to be used, adding latency tothe interference control response time.

Without loss of generality the feedback information may be contained orotherwise multiplexed within an actual enhanced uplink transmission, ormay be carried on an associated control channel. The feedback signalingis communicated between the MAC-e entity in the UE and the MAC-e entityin the serving cell Node-B as shown in FIG. 5.

The network (UTRAN) is comprised of Radio Network Controllers (RNCs)each subtending multiple cell sites (Node-B's). Each Node-B contains aMAC-e entity responsible for scheduling of one or more cells or sectorssupported by the Node-B. The schedulers do not require coordinationbetween sites, and hence the need for Node-B to Node-B interfaces isobviated. Of course, schedulers dealing with different cells subtendedby the same Node-B may communicate internally to the Node-B if theimplementation dictates.

The scheduler is responsible for sharing out uplink interferenceresources amongst users. The interference resources consist of anintracell interference component and an intercell interference componentand are specified as allowable interference levels relative to thethermal noise (so-called “Rise over Thermal”, RoT).

A TDD WCDMA receiver can incorporate a joint detection receiver whichcan cancel some of the energy from other serving cell users. However,the cancellation process is not perfect and some residual interferencemay remain. The residual interference from each user is likely to varyto some degree in proportion with the received power from that user.Thus, a user granted more received power at the base station will have ahigher intracell “cost” than a user granted a lower received-powerquotient.

The scheduler can calculate/estimate an intracell cost factor(F_(intra)) for each UE (i), which when multipled by the hypotheticalreceived power grant results in an absolute intracell cost associatedwith that grant. The cost factor could for example simply be a fixedscalar related to the efficiency of the joint detection process (0 . . .1). For example:F _(int ra,i)=1−JD efficiency  [6]COST_(int ra,i) =F _(int ra,i)×grant_(i)  [7]

Each user's transmission to the serving cell will also appear at aneighboring cell receiver at a level corresponding to the grantedreceived power in the serving cell, and the ratio of the path gain tothe serving cell and the path gain to the particular neighboring cell.Users granted more received power at the serving cell will interferemore with neighboring cells than those granted less power. Additionally,users with low geometry will interfere with neighbor cells more thanthose with high geometry.

As for the intracell case, the scheduler can determine an overallintercell “cost” factor associated with a hypothetical grant of receivedpower resources to a given UE. The cost factor is based upon thegeometry of the user. When the cost factor is multipled by the grant, anabsolute intercell cost is obtained. For example:

$\begin{matrix}{F_{{inter},i} = \frac{1}{\Phi_{i}}} & \lbrack 8\rbrack \\{{COST}_{{inter},i} = {F_{{inter},i} \times {grant}_{i}}} & \lbrack 9\rbrack\end{matrix}$

Using the notion of intracell and intercell cost, the scheduler canapportion the allowable intracell and intercell costs to the various UEsin the schedule according to a fairness criterion.

For fair scheduling, each scheduled user in the cell governed by aparticular scheduler should receive an equal received-power grant. Thesum of the costs of the equal power grants should not exceed the totalallowable intracell or intercell costs (these are set in order tomaintain a particular outage or system reliability/stability).

For geometrically proportional scheduling, each scheduled user in thecell governed by a particular scheduler should receive a received-powergrant in proportion to his geometry. Again, the sum of the costs of thepower grants should not exceed the total allowable intracell orintercell costs.

Variable degrees of fairness can also be implemented between the fairscheduling and geometrically proportional scheduling methods, whereinpower grants are scaled by a factor that is the sum of a geometry factorand a constant that represents a fairness parameter. An embodiment ofthe scheduling process is illustrated in FIG. 6. By consideration of theusers geometry and the setting of the fairness parameter, a schedulingscheme is effected which can: (i) predict the impact of a hypotheticalgrant to a UE in terms of the level of intercell interference created;(ii) preemptively control and manage intercell interference in thesystem; (iii) maintain a desired coverage area for cells throughout thenetwork; retain a distributed scheduling architecture for lower latency,faster retransmissions, and H-ARQ benefits; (iv) obviate the need fordownlink feedback signaling overhead from other cells to controlinterference levels; and (v) obviate the need for a UE receiver tolisten and decode messages from multiple cells, hence avoiding anincrease in the UE receiver complexity.

FIG. 7 a is a block diagram exemplifying a process for calculatinguplink resource grants for each UE served, subject to total allowableintercell and intracell cost constraints according to an embodiment ofthe invention. In this particular embodiment, RSCPs are monitored fromthe serving cell and Node-Bs of neighboring cells by a UE in step 701.In step 702, the UE transmits the monitored RSCPs to its serving Node-bfor subsequent processing. In step 703, the serving Node-b receives themonitored RSCPs from the UE and in step 704, uplink path gains betweenthe UE and the serving and active set Node-bs are estimated on the basisof the respective downlink paths, owing to the reciprocity of the TDDchannel. In step 705, the estimated uplink path gains are used tocalculate a geometry value (or similar figure of merit, as discussedabove) for each UE served. In step 706, intercell and intracell costfactors for each UE served by a particular Node-b are calculated by theNode-b, for example according to equations 8 and 9, above.

FIG. 7 b is an alternative embodiment in which uplink path gain estimatecalculations (step 704) and geometry value or similar figure of meritcalculations (705) are performed by the UE rather than the servingNode-B. This can reduce the necessary feedback communication bandwidthfrom the UE to the Node-B, but at the cost of additional computationbandwidth, memory, and power consumption at the UE. It may also meanthat less overall information content is conveyed (for example,information specific to the path gain to each individual cell may belost) and so signaling efficiency is traded-off against informationcontent and scheduling performance.

FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of step 707 of FIGS. 7 a and 7 b in which allintracell costs and all intercell costs are separately summed (steps 801and 801) and compared to maximum respective cost targets, in step 803.Depending on whether the intracell total cost is higher or whether theintercell cost is higher the uplink resource grants are scaled for eachserved UE by the ratio of total allowable intercell (or intracell,respectively) cost so that no maximum (intercell or intracell) costtarget is exceeded. This process can be applied iteratively, asnecessary. Although as illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 7, steps703 through 707 are executed at a serving Node-b (in particular by aMACe of serving Node-b), intracell and/or intercell costs could beestimated by the UE, and transmission parameters adjusted in order thatthe UE does not exceed predefined interference targets in serving and/orneighbor cells.

FIG. 9 illustrates a hardware embodiment of a further embodiment of theinvention. UE 908 comprises signal connection means 909 operativelyconnecting receiver 913, transmitter, 910, antenna switch or duplexer914, processor 911, and memory 912 as is well known in the art of userequipment for wireless communications. Antenna switch or duplexer 914 isconnected with an UE antenna 915 for sending and receiving radiosignals. 901 and 917 are Node-Bs, connected to their respective antennas906 and 922. Node-b 901 can be essentially identical to Node-b 917,except that for purposes of this illustration, Node-b 917 is assumed tobe a serving node for UE 908. Block 903 is a transmitter, block 904 is acontroller, and block 905 is electronic memory. Block 902 is signalinterconnection. Processor 904, under control of a set of computerinstructions stored in memory 905 directs transmitter 903 to transmitRSCPs to UE 908. UE 908 monitors the reference signal (beacon signal)and measures the corresponding received power levels (“RSCP”) and in oneembodiment, relays them to its serving Node-B for subsequent processing.Received signal power levels can be measured through analog techniquessuch as an analog received signal strength indicator (RSSI) circuit, orestimated by digital signal processing techniques, as is well known inthe art. In alternative embodiments UE 908 can perform additionalprocessing on the RSCP transmissions, and the results sent to theserving Node-b. Serving Node-b 917. Block 919 in serving Node-b is areceiver, block 920 is a controller, block 921 is an electronic memory,and block 918 is a signal connection means. Controller 920 of servingNode-b contains within the electronic memory 921 to calculate uplinkresource grants to each served UI according to at least one of theembodiments, discussed above. Uplink transmission parameters that can beadjusted by controller 920 to alter intracell and intercell uplink costsfor a UE can include, without limitation: (i) data rate; (ii)transmission power; (iii) degree and/or nature of forward errorcorrection; (iv) modulation format; and/or (v) code resource usage. Forexample, for a given uplink transmission power, data rate, degree offorward error correction, and modulation format, a first level oftransmission reliability (data error rate) can be achieved. A loweringof the data rate, or an increase of the amount of forward errorcorrection applied to the system, or the use of a more robust modulationscheme will result in a second, improved transmission reliability whentransmitted at the same transmission power. Such an improvement may beexploited by a subsequent lowering of the UE transmission power to onceagain achieve the first transmission reliability. In such a way,adjustment of the data rate, or forward error correction coding, ormodulation scheme may be used to adjust the UE transmission power,thereby controlling intercell interference while still achieving therequired transmission reliability.

Variations and extensions of the embodiments described are apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art. For example, the uplink scheduler cancalculate the effect or cost of a hypothetical grant of uplink resourceson other cells before making the grant, using the reported measurementsto derive in whole or in part the effect or cost value.

Other applications, features, and advantages of this invention will beapparent to one of ordinary skill in the art who studies this inventiondisclosure. Therefore the scope of this invention is to be limited onlyby the following claims.

1. A tangible computer program product having executable program codestored therein for performing a method of intercell control byallocating uplink transmission resources in a mobile station of awireless communication system, the program code operable for performinga method when executed at a mobile station, the method comprising:receiving at least one serving base station reference signaltransmission transmitted at a transmission power level; receiving atleast one non-serving base station reference signal transmissiontransmitted at a respective power level; measuring at least one receivedsignal power level corresponding to the at least one serving basestation reference signal transmission; constructing a noise-free versionof one of the at least one respective reference signals; calculating apower of the noise-free version; estimating an at least one interferencepower level for the at least one non-serving base station referencesignal transmission by a relationship of the noise-free version powerlevel and the measured, received signal power of the at least onerespective reference signal; calculating a figure of merit fortransmission to the at least one serving base station, wherein thefigure of merit is for adjusting an uplink transmission resourceparameter at the mobile station, and is based on a relationship of theat least one received signal power level and the at least oneinterference power level; transmitting, to the at least one serving basestation, the figure of merit to determine the uplink transmissionresource parameter for the mobile station; and receiving, from the atleast one serving base station, the uplink transmission resourceparameter in response to the figure of merit, wherein the uplinktransmission resource parameter is determined by an uplink scheduler ofthe at least one serving base station such that an acceptable uplinkinterference is predicted to be caused to the at least one non-servingbase station as a result of a transmission from the mobile station tothe at least one serving base station using the uplink transmissionresource parameter based in part upon cell uplink path gain information.2. The tangible computer program product of claim 1, wherein theinterference power level is estimated by a relationship of serving basestation path gain and strongest non-serving base station path gain.
 3. Amobile station for intercell control of allocating uplink transmissionresources comprising: means for receiving, by a mobile station, at leastone serving base station reference signal transmission transmitted at atransmission power level; means for receiving at least one non-servingbase station reference signal transmission transmitted at a respectivepower level; means for measuring at least one received signal powerlevel corresponding to the at least one serving base station referencesignal transmission; means for estimating an at least one interferencepower level for the at least one non-serving base station referencesignal transmission; means for calculating a figure of merit fortransmission to the at least one serving base station, wherein thefigure of merit is for adjusting an uplink transmission resourceparameter at the mobile station, and is based on a relationship of theat least one received signal power level and the at least oneinterference power level; means for transmitting, to the base station,the figure of merit to determine the uplink transmission resourceparameter for the mobile station; and means for receiving, from the atleast one serving base station, the uplink transmission resourceparameter in response to the figure of merit, wherein the uplinktransmission resource parameter is determined by an uplink scheduler ofthe at least one serving base station by generating an estimate of aninterfering signal power level of a neighboring base station such thatan acceptable uplink interference is predicted to be caused to the atleast one non-serving base station as a result of a transmission fromthe mobile station to the at least one serving base station using theuplink transmission resource parameter based in part upon cell uplinkpath gain information.
 4. The mobile station of claim 3, wherein theuplink transmission resource parameter is a member of the group of datarate, uplink transmission power, degree or nature of forward errorcorrection, modulation format, and code resource usage.
 5. The mobilestation of claim 3, wherein the wireless communication system isdescribed by a Third Generation partnership project Universal MobileTelecommunication Standard, the base station is a Node-B, and the mobilestation is a user equipment (UE).